Brown Thrush on a Branch of a Tree in Full Bloom
Artist/Culture
Shibata, Zeshin
(Japanese, 1807–1891)
Date1827-1891
Mediumlacquer painting on paper
Dimensions26.7 x 21.4 cm (10 1/2 x 8 7/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineGift from the estate of John Chandler Bancroft
Terms
Object number1901.1343
Label Text2004-01-30: BROWN THRUSH AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS
(Sakura ni akahara)
Artist: Shibata Zeshin (1807-91)
Signed: Zeshin
Lacquer painting on mica-ground paper
John Chandler Bancroft Collection, 1901.1343
The olive-brown bird is perhaps a Brown Thrush (Turdus chrysolaus), a common summer visitor to wooded hills and lowland forests throughout Japan. The artist Shibata Zeshin became the most famous lacquer artist as well as the most distinguished painter and print-designer of the naturalistic Shijo-school during the latter half of the 19th century. Throughout his long working career Zeshin worked industriously every day, usually spending his mornings painting in a studio facing east and his afternoons at lacquer work in a workshop facing south.
By exploring the potentials of lacquer, Zeshin developed many innovativeProvenanceEstate of John Chandler Bancroft, Boston MAOn View
Not on view
